


Something to Hold Onto

by DoctorsOrders



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Flash Fic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Panic, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-20
Updated: 2016-09-20
Packaged: 2018-08-16 05:40:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8089306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorsOrders/pseuds/DoctorsOrders
Summary: Jim has some traumatic episodes, Bones and Spock are there for him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe how short and G rated this is...  
> I just have a lot of feelings about Jim, and I'm sorry that all I do is break him (not sorry enough to stop though, obviously).

Sometimes Jim wakes up screaming.   
  
It’s dark and guttural, sounds Jim didn’t even know he could make. The screams echo so loudly in the room that Jim can hear them after they’ve stopped, after he’s awake—heart racing a marathon in his chest, throat on fire, stomach churning. There are no tears, there have never been any tears, because it’s not that kind of hurt.  
  
But it does hurt. _Jim_ hurts.   
  
It might hurt less if he knew why he was screaming. If, perhaps, there was a dream that went along with it. Then again, it might hurt more. It might hurt so much Jim would never be able to stop screaming if he knew.   
  
it happens with irregular regularity. At least once a week, but with no discernible pattern. Jim hopes desperately it will stop before a pattern starts.   
  
That's the worst part, the not knowing.   
  
But one thing is certain: When Jim wakes up, howling noises that could bring the dead back to life, two sets of arms reach for him in the dark. Gentle, reassuring touches. Soft at first, to make sure Jim knows they’re not going to hurt him, and then firm, so Jim knows they’re not going to let go. There are no words—they figured out that was best after the first few times—but the silence is entirely comforting.    
  
They bring him back down to the bed, steadying his shaking body. Bones strokes his hair while Spock caresses his face, each with one hand, the other still clasped with Jim’s. Jim focuses on breathing, and slowing his heart back to a safe speed. He lets himself relax into their reassuring presence. And before long the night is over and he’s waking up again, but this time it's a new day, and there's no screaming.   
  
It’s the same every time and yet, it’s different.   
  
It’s different because every time he wakes up and Bones and Spock are still lying next to him—still there, still tangled up with Jim and each other—he falls in love with them a little bit more than he thought was possible the day before. 


End file.
